Join me today as I speak with Aleksandra Holmlund, CEO of Qarlbo Biodiversity for a glimpse into the biodiversity crediting mechanism she has championed in Sweden. In this conversation we explore the biodiversity finance mechanism developed in cooperation with the Swedish University of Agriculture that focuses on production forest landscapes. In a nutshell, the mechanism works from a baseline of business as usual forestry and attributes any net gains in biodiversity to come from conservation, restoration or diversification of forest management activities. In addition to the mechanics, we discuss the sentiments of key participants in making this biodiversity credit transaction work – the forest owner and the credit buyer. Tune in to learn more about this very pragmatic approach to biodiversity finance in production forests and see if you can learn a thing or two to apply in your own forest investments.
Host: Shauna Matkovich - The Forest Link
Producer: Magdalena Laas - https://www.linkedin.com/in/laasmagdalena/
01:26 Introduction to Alexandra and her background
03:06 Mechanism for biodiversity credit system in production forestry in Sweden
06:20 Example of integration of timber management and biodiversity management
08:50 Proportion of land dedicated to each (specific property owner)
10:12 Carbon credits in Sweden
11:51 Effect of policy changes and legislation on biodiversity offsets and markets
14:16 Buyer’s motivation of obtaining biodiversity credits (specific example)
17:05 Local or global market opportunities?
19:04 MRV process for conservation, restoration and diversification & target setting
22:24 Market price for biodiversity & loss of harvesting income
23:22 Interest from forest owners in biodiversity pilot project
24:15 Funding?
25:06 Duration of commitment by forestry owner (20+ years)
25:48 Mitigate risk of forestry owner quitting project
26:52 Development of biodiversity certification – Swedish Biodiversity Alliance
29:10 Methodology applicable in another jurisdiction
31:30 Data collection methods & fine-tuning metrics
34:26 Actionable advice for investors
[10:49] At this early stage, where we are in the development of the biodiversity credit market, I’d say it is better to keep carbon and biodiversity apart just to be on the safe side, not to trigger any unwanted consequences such as greenwashing critique.
[15:44] A transparent market will allow private funding of biodiversity and enable forest owners to engage in more nature conservation and restoration than we would have had if only taxpayers’ money was paying for everything.
Qarlbo Biodiversity: https://www.qarlbonac.com/
Portfolio: https://www.aleksandraholmlund.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksandra-holmlund-5b04101/
Sound Library: